u.s

MEXICO CITY – One of the first Mexican drug kingpins to oversee mass shipments of cocaine was extradited to the United States on Friday to face drug-trafficking charges, ending an eight-year effort by U.S. authorities to take custody of a man who once controlled one of the world's most powerful...

Standard & Poor's slapped a negative outlook on the top-notch credit rating of the United States on Monday, jacking up the pressure on the Obama administration and Congress to slash the yawning federal budget deficit. S&P, which assigns ratings to guide investors on the risks involved in buying...

1 hr 43 mins ago MEXICO CITY – Authorities say a suspect in the kidnapping and killing of bus passengers near the U.S. border has led Mexican soldiers to another set of clandestine graves containing 16 corpses. The latest discovery brings the total number of bodies found this month in a series...

GENEVA – A U.N. torture investigator says he is frustrated at being denied an unmonitored visit to a U.S. Army private suspected of giving classified material to WikiLeaks. Juan Mendez says the U.S. government "has not been receptive to a confidential meeting" with Pfc. Bradley Manning. Mendez...

GUATEMALA CITY – Police say 400 people marched in support of Guatemala's reputed top drug trafficker captured by the government and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Police spokesman Donald Gonzalez says the demonstration Thursday was peaceful and lasted about three hours in an area...

WASHINGTON – To a nation and a Congress seeking answers, President Barack Obama on Monday will offer his most expansive explanation of the U.S. role in the Libyan war, delivering a speech that is expected to cover the path ahead and his rationale about the appropriate use of force. Obama's 7:30...

TRIPOLI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi's government accused U.S.-led forces of ignoring civilian casualties on Friday, showing journalists a Tripoli neighborhood that has come under attack for at least two nights. U.S. and British officials insisted civilians have been spared and retort that the...

President Barack Obama, speaking in Santiago, Chile on Monday, defended his decision to order U.S. strikes against Libyan military targets, and insisted that the mission is clear. And like a parade of Pentagon officials the past few days, Obama insisted that the United States' lead military...

BAGHDAD – The U.S. military says an American soldier has died in southern Iraq. In a statement issued Monday, the military said the soldier died from wounds sustained from a roadside bomb attack during operations in southern Iraq. The statement gave no further details. The name of the...

TRIPOLI, Libya – A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed a "long war" after the U.S. and European militaries blasted his forces with airstrikes and over 100 cruise missiles early Sunday, hitting air defenses and at least two major air bases and shaking the Libyan capital with explosions and...

First wave of allied assault: 112 cruise missiles WASHINGTON – U.S. and British ships and submarines launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses Saturday and a senior American defense official said it was believed substantial damage was inflicted. In the strikes, 112...

The United States showed increasing alarm about Japan's nuclear crisis on Wednesday and urged its citizens to stay clear of an earthquake-crippled power plant, going further in its warnings than Japan itself. The State Department said the United States has chartered aircraft to help Americans...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Reality TV star Richard Hatch presented himself to U.S. marshals in Rhode Island on Monday to begin a nine-month prison sentence for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on first season of the CBS show "Survivor." Hatch arrived at U.S. District Court in Providence...

The U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in January as higher oil prices and surging imports of capital goods and cars overpowered record exports in a signal of strengthening domestic demand. The trade gap grew by 15.1 percent to $46.3 billion from $40.3 billion in December, the...

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday that he won't condemn Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and he warned that the United States is preparing an invasion of the North African country to seize control of its oil reserves. "We must be prudent. We know what our political...

DETROIT – U.S. auto sales are expected to show a gain of about 20 percent from the still-depressed levels of a year earlier in February, but the recent rise in oil prices could slow or even derail the industry's recovery, analysts and industry executives say. Major automakers are set to report...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will likely remain skeptical about the strength of the economic recovery in testimony on Tuesday, despite recent data pointing to improvement, signaling the central bank is unlikely to cut short its $600 billion stimulus plan. The U.S. Fed chief, who...

1 hr 7 mins ago MOSCOW – A trove of historic archive documents dating back to Catherine the Great that were stolen after the Soviet breakup were returned to Russia by the U.S. on Friday. The 21 documents include decrees issued by historical figures such as Czar Nicholas II and Soviet Marshal...

LAHORE, Pakistan – An American CIA employee accused of murdering two Pakistanis appeared handcuffed in a Pakistani court on Friday, where he refused to sign a charge sheet after claiming diplomatic immunity, officials said. The detention of Raymond Allen Davis has severely frayed ties between...

LONDON – Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden in a sex crimes inquiry, a British judge ruled Thursday, rejecting claims by the WikiLeaks founder that he would not face a fair trial there. Assange's lawyer said he would appeal. Judge Howard Riddle said the allegations of rape and sexual...